Lessons Learned last month – documenting lessons learned is a great idea from reading Meb Keflezighi’s book “26 Marathons” along with David Goggins:

1. Get race experience when you can:  I almost didn’t do Bonefrog because my shoulder was hurt from the Spartan Sprint the week before.  I didn’t realize that it was also a great “mini death march” with total of 3200′ elevation racing experience, 2 more times practice swimming in cold water, practice seeing other obstacles, and a good 2.5 hr race where I cramped in my feet at end from not eating enough salt stix/fueling properly.  It also gives you confidence – I know now what 3200′ at once feels like and know that I can do it with energy left over.
2. Breaking up mileage makes them easier:  ie. Clovis done May 5 13 miles done in 2 mile segments broken up by 30 burpee jumping pull ups.  Had tons left at the end of this – way easier than running 13 straight miles
3. Sometimes walking is faster than running:  ie. Nashoba hills.  I was so depressed that running up was so hard.  2nd time I did it, Gary taught me some hill technique and I mixed up running/fast “hiking” and beat my running time.  Walking is not a bad thing and sometimes faster.
4. Get used to thinking about quitting and what you will think about to not do it.  This occurs to me every single Tuesday when I’m on Nashoba and the other guys leave before I do…..I could just go now and not do the last few runs up.  I always finish because I can’t live with the shame only I know about quitting.  Once you decide you have to do it, you quit worrying about it so much.
5. Value of body butter:  Picture at top of this blog is my upper arm from a rub I got from a short sleeved in a 2.5+ hr run.  Things that never hurt before can become an issue with time on the road.  Use body butter anywhere anything rubs!
6. Focus on form when tired:  One of my most hated workouts is interval training.  For two reasons – I am so much slower than high school (ie. 4:00 800M vs. 2:35 or a 7:55 mile vs. 5:47), and it hurts way more.  In the middle of doing some 200s, I started thinking about form and lifting up with knees/feet up vs. back and it made it easier – maybe because I just took my mind off of the pain.
7. Don’t be afraid to win if you feel good:  think of the district meet when I could have crushed the competition in the mile but was afraid I felt so good and fell back (also not wanting the season to continue/lacked confidence I could keep it up).  Go for it with smarts, especially at the end and fight for every spot.
8. Prepare in advance for food/water:  Carry what you can with you vs. having to stop somewhere to get it.  Just in case you find a good water fill area, bring extra tailwind, etc so you don’t have to circle by homebase.
9. How you feel doesn’t always equal how you perform:  Keep trying even when you feel bad.
10. Clip ins:  As you get going, don’t clip in too early and get stuck trying to unclip with no forward momentum.  Peddle without clipping in until you are going strong.  Recent bike ride last weekend…I thought I had the clip ins down great from unclipping in trainer and then fell down in a driveway. (see pics below)
11. Get real trail shoes vs. road running shoes (and they are hard to find):  My standard Inov8s just don’t cut it going down grass or rough rock.  Ordered Altra Superiors and waiting for Salomon Speedcross 5 to get some real shoes with tread.
12. Never hang straight down from any bars without you scaps – this is how I hurt my “good” right shoulder/not using good form.

I am looking out my office window at a blooming magnolia with my cat getting ready to do a few ROMWODs and then go out for a long run.  I am grateful for:

• Being healthy and able to work and play
• Having learned so much this last year
  • Finding a coach who has helped me learn value of Heart rate training
  • Leadership of my team at work – paying attention to people, recognizing more when they are out in the field, helping more
  • How to climb a rope
  • How to run uphill – conquered Nashoba after a crushing week of not making it and then learning some skills.  Revisiting again how mentally tough (or not) I am – at least the second time I went and was determined to try to make it.
  • Running skills
  • Recovering my shoulder
  • Being OK with postponing some strength while I fix some core issues and finding someone to help me with lower back pain/posture/root cause
  • Being able to change habits and acknowledge weaknesses to strategize around them
  • How to ride a bicycle
  • Wading my way thru apps and gadgets to find out the best way to track training
• My husband, who listens to me saying the same things over and over and always telling me I can do anything I set my mind to, supporting me when I’m in time out, and who takes care of me
• Looking forward to applying what I’ve learned athletically to my music – adding variability (and per W. Marsalis, mimicking color and people and feelings)
• My job and manager – there is trust there that I appreciate and I hope integrity
• New Orleans – went to French Quarter Fest although was a little lonely by myself in a huge crowd.  Found some dancers, listened to music, ate some wonderful breakfasts at Envie, did yoga at the Cabildo, found an awesome gym and continued all my training and PT while on the road
  

  

  

  

Am trying to not take everything so seriously yet be disciplined and humble.  To be OK with what I can do and to be OK if I mess up once in a while whether it be diet, missing a workout, making a mistake at home or work…

Keep the faith,

Laura

p.s.

Ben Bergeron had a great podcast on getting along with others and a section of empathy with sympathy … Chasing Excellence episode #63.

Last time I ran here, I made it up ~75% of the way and totally gassed out.  My buddy was showing off hopping every two steps up and came down to walk up with me.  I was out this time to make it to the top and made it 7x!

Total elevation gain ~755′.  Note that the death march in the spartan ultra is around 1.25 miles with 1700′ elevation (~26% incline) so is 2.5x what I just did just less incline and longer.

The entire course I think is around 6500k elevation gain so 10x what I just did (that seems more daunting!).

A little progress with a lot more to go.  A few more pics from yesterday:

Laura

Coach helped me with technique and to get up to the ceiling for the first time March 21, 2019 after 8 years of trying.  Being 45# lighter helps.  Having pullups back helps.  Repeated climb at the box on Saturday.  Note that I was pretty scared both days – not sure why but pretty happy that I did it.

Keep at it my friends –

Laura

Dear Coach,

End of training week 12:  This was a good but hard week – I am tired and sore today.  Not sure how but I had a very sore left calf all week so worked that daily.  Long run in snow went well (9 miles @ 11:45 pace) as prep for next Sunday. Moved aerobic workouts to morning which is huge – fitting all this stuff in has been a learning process. I was psyched to realize by moving to morning I could run in daylight and then we turned clocks ahead this weekend!!!!

Note that I compared my 9 miles today with previous runs and it was a little discouraging – I know we are slowing things down so I can go further at a slower pace, but hard to quantify progress when my times are worse -maybe progress is having slower and predictable splits with better form as I have learned HR training and how to control what I am doing 🙂

• Oct 14, 2018 ran 8.1 miles, 9:57 avg pace
• Nov 4, 2018 ran 9 miles, 10:42 avg pace
• March 10, 2019 ran 9 miles, 11:45 avg pace (exactly the target!), Cadence 155, HR 127 avg

This is my life:

• Sunday:  always meal prep for the week (this is not new), long run, extra mobility, study/read
• M-F:  Wake up before 5am, workout 1-2 hrs, do a ROMWOD, drive hour to work, work 8-10 hrs, drive hour to crossfit gym, try to get there with time before last workout at 7:30 so I can do strength (this has been a fail), get home around 8:45pm, eat and go to bed.  I don’t want to abandon my husband so need to leave work earlier and have a little more time at night.
• Note:  I watch zero TV

Successes

• Moved aerobic workouts to before work.  This took me too long to do as 2+ hours of workouts could not be crammed in after work, after my hour drive home and with dinner which resulted in some very late nights!
• Discovered the irrigation box – a small thing made a big difference in squat confidence and my back feeling better got me to 125lb backsquats this week
• Good mobility work – rejoined ROMWOD as I like the sustained holds and do at least 1-2 a day.  I did a 9 mile run today and was NOT crippled for the rest of the day in my lower back – this is huge although crossfit on Thursday with KB swings and KB lunges did make my lower back pretty sore.
• Started experiment on supplemental nutrition during races.
  • Tried some at 1:18 today with 30 min left – didn’t notice much difference. Don’t like anything too sugary, the sport beans are out! Need blander flavors also …a barrage of stuff is coming this week to try over the next weeks
• Lesson learned:  for more complicated workouts with intervals over a long time, need to write out time changes so I don’t get lost during workouts – I think I may be losing it as although I have a Masters in engineering from MIT, I unsuccessfully wrote this out in the middle of “bike3″ as somehow 67″ +10″ equalled  107”!  I still find myself also forgetting to do things sometimes – like keep up the cadence or I’ll forget I’m in the middle of a Z3/Z4 interval…losing it 🙂

• I feel great about enlisting my two young proteges (14 and 17 yrs old) to do a spartan sprint this summer and helping them do it
• My equipment failed me in the very cold (7deg F weather) so I will likely buy some Garmin watch in the next weeks – thinking either Forerunner 935 or Felix 5.
• Water intake way better as I leave glasses all over my house now
• Shoulder made another step better with just slight twinge now when hanging – did at least 50 strict pullups during a wod last week.

Need to do better:

• Am struggling getting the lifting routines in – not because I don’t like them/these are my favorites (except squats!) but sometimes when I get to crossfit early, the bars are taken, or I don’t get there early and it is pretty late after.  Am thinking I may want to join some typical gym like Fitlab just to have more flexibility for weight training. It is not easier with them spread out over days and would rather plan for 2 days with 2/day then 4 with one day on weekends.  I am working/workout out continuously – not slacking off
• Need to get on crawling and grip strength – am wondering if I should get something to use while at my desk/in meetings at work.  How can I work this stuff in while at work….maybe take a trip thru the shops carrying something during the day….we are buying a pullup bar for work
• Having trouble getting run cadence up to 170, no issues with bike

thank you for all your advice!

Laura

I’ve been trying to make running a more social sport – haven’t figured it out yet as I am trying to follow my own routine, at my own pace and am not networked well.  In addition to just wanting company, I also feel strongly about helping out young women with their careers.  Back in 1989, there were ~4% women in my engineering class and less than that working in engineering at my current company – not much progress there unfortunately.  There are two wonderful young ladies (and a third much younger) that I try to pay some special attention to in my life.  I decided to enlist them in a Spartan Sprint 5K this summer.  They are both little badasses in their own right now – much older than the pics I have here. They are some awesome karate kicking, soccer playing, horn section playing, hard-working little ladies.

This week, I made it a REQUIREMENT for my niece Katie, who I’m flying out here to visit with me, and a REQUEST to my close friend Robbie’s daughter Sonia, who lives nearby.  Here they are – although both much bigger now – Katie will be 18 and Sonia 15 this summer.

Katie – my niece:

Sonia – my BLF (best little friend)…these are quite old!:

And a few times, they have been together:

So, in addition to calling them and promising them help, etc, I sent them the video below – which, granted might be intimidating as it has “Will you die?” in the title….

Then, I thought they need something a little more motivational so I sent them this:

then this….

https://youtu.be/F_Y86zJkt9s

I am very excited about them doing the August 10 Spartan Sprint Race and hoping we can pull this off!

Heading out into a blizzard now for a 105″ run 🙂

Laura

There is a great book called “The Year of Running Dangerously” (which is reviewed separately in these blogs) where the main character helps his daughter during a marathon by giving her magic beans to help with cramping. Fact is, you need to manage your fluid and carbohydrate intake during long runs.  I called an old friend last week, who is 82, an ironman and going strong mountain biking in Arizona – his main advice was to manage this stuff and not bonk during a race.

I’m running a half marathon next weekend which, at my snails’ pace of 11:45/mi, will take me ~2.5 hrs to complete.  After 90 min, you should consider taking come kind of supplement every hour or so.  I have never done this.  This is the beginning of weeks of experimentation to find out which product works best for me.  Coach says to find two gels, two chewables and two powders that I like.

Current items I’m checking out after 90 min to note if it tastes good and if it improves how I feel:

• Salt Stick – 215 mg sodium vs. Hammer nutrition – Endurolytes
  • “pills” like endurolytes or pill form of salt sticks get stuck in your throat and hurt.  I’m going with the chewable salt sticks (Update:  the non chewables have higher concentration of electrolytes and chewables require way more per hour so I now use the normal sat sticks to take 2/hour).
• Tailwind powder mix
  • Love this 1 scoop mixed with 22 oz water each hour.  Have tried orange and lemon.
• Gummies
  • Skratch labs
  • Sport Beans – 100 cal/package, 80 mg sodium, 40 mg potassium, 25g carb (17g sugars).  made of cane sugar, tapioca syrup, apple juice, etc.  These are made by jelly belly
    • Tried this at 1:18 with another 30 min to go.  Too sugary and pain to keep popping the little ones/whole pack of 100 cal.  Did not have noticeable affect – was cold.  No cramping.
• Gels…. All sweet.  Better chocolate/coffee flavors as less sweet
  • Cliff:  LIKE because little tab at top connected to pack so won’t litter/get lost
  • Vfuel Gels
  • Gu gel – 100 cal packet, 25 g carb made from maltodextrin, water, fructose, leucine, sea salt, 125 mg sodium
  • Hydragel sports fuel gel 100 made from total crap, glucose, fructose, 25g sugars
• Hammer nutrition – chocolate recoverite and for during training
  • This can be too sweet at end of run

I was happy that I also found some sport beans today a the Heartbreak Hill Running Store in Boston!

I’ll be updating this post with results.

This is my pre, during and post race nutrition plan:

Chew on,

Laura

I’ve been living in fear of squats for two reasons:  My achey lower back and the fact I’ve always felt a little unstable because of my flexibility and tendency to have issues with an upright upper body while in a squat (remember I cannot do an overhead squat – yet).  My coach recommended that I use a box at a height that I’m comfortable squatting to.

After running my head into the end of the 45 lb bar in the rack while reaching for my training routine papers on the ground (rookie mistake), I set it up on a few 10 lb plates so that the top was set if I was in a full squat parallel to ground.

LOVE IT – I don’t know if it just makes me feel safer and not lost in space as I’m awkwardly going down but it is like a magic confidence builder.  I went up to 125 lb squat for a pretty easy 3 reps!

Squat on my friends!

Laura

Sometimes when you expend less energy and slow down you accomplish more.  After a week in Bonaire, on the last dive I realized that if I totally exhale, I sink like a rock and totally managed my buoyancy on my own floating and going up and down at will easily.  This also applies to initially getting in the water as you descend – instead of flailing around, just relax and lean forward.  It reminds of a day many years ago at GE when I was in some type of battle with the Italians and Vincenzo Di Leva told me that I didn’t realize I had already won….

Pausing and being in the moment is also something I am working on.  Doesn’t mean I don’t work hard but it means that you need to make the work count by being focused.

I did run six miles roundtrip to Crossfit Flamingo and do the 19.1 workout – heat kicked my a&& and my calves were cramping during wallballs.  I did this while the rest of the group was out diving and before I had my initial, assisted dive en route to certification the next day.  I was told you weren’t supposed to exercise too much before diving – this was a test 🙂  Here’s a pic of me and the awesome guys who judged/supported me:

So on this note, let me get back into it and meditate daily.  OHm, one more thing, 5 pounds up – I am hoping it is airplane weight and we’ll see in a day or so.  I am also determined to get back to the weights – my 7.7 miles yesterday crippled me with the lower back again so I need to continue to work through that and fix it as well.

A few more pics from the trip:

An awesome time and in my new swimsuit!!

Honest reporting and en route to being better,

Laura

First day of STFU training – after my hour run in the snow, I found the salt bucket in the garage and carried it around the neighborhood.  I love that kind of stuff. I hadn’t really done it last month as planned I think because it was too easy – make it harder and I’m all in 🙂

First week of phase 4 training this week with the intensity increasing – see bike workout below from yesterday where I did a bunch of intervals thruout the workout ending with a 20 sec max effort, 10 s rest for 4 minutes:

Already had a back spasm so better get on the floor to do a few stretches/mobility wod today…  Am tired just thinking of the next two days getting ready to go to Bonaire at 3am Sat morning!!  Tomorrow I have a workout + am trying out gear at the scuba pool + organizing cat sitters, etc for our trip.

I’ve mentioned before about how if I’m out late at night running around my neighborhood that I’ve asked my sweet husband to never turn off the light downstairs so that I think he is awake with me.  I’ve been searching for someone my age, trying to do something similar, so I am not alone in this journey.  I’ve said to myself “I’m all alone” dredging up this old, untrue, verbal punishment I thought I had gotten rid of.  I know it’s not true.  I know there are plenty of athletes I can talk to at the box or my coach and that I have a wonderful family and friends.  I do know this – it is something we all worry about and just like I ask my husband to keep a light on in our home, I was thinking today that we should all keep a “light on” for others so they don’t forget they aren’t either.  It could be just asking someone how they are doing or inviting someone to dinner or sending a little note to a friend living far away.

I had first written in jest don’t use a headlamp but this post edit is about how you MUST use a bright headlamp as one of my very best friends suffered from depression and hung himself in his garage.  You can’t keep the lights on bright enough to make others realize they are not alone.

Here’s a shoutout to one of the best humans ever – Gunter you are missed.

Laura

I became a stepmom in my 40s.  I survived and all of us are doing great. I remember that it took me into my 30s until I truly appreciated my own mother and still wonder what, if any, impact I have made on my boyfriends’ son, my stepson, my son – labels get all confused in these types of relationships just like the boundary lines of what we can say or not say, or care about or not care about, or ask or not ask….

A month ago we were driving in the car together while he was home at Christmas and I was working on posture with the lacrosse ball behind my shoulder in the car when he told me he was worried about me doing that because if we got into an accident, I could get extra hurt by having that ball there.  I thought it was the sweetest concern ever. Sometimes I’ve wondered if I’ve made a difference at all or, if I’ve damaged him in some way with the conflicts we did have (probably no different than any teen and their parents).  Anyway, it was a moment that mattered a lot to me.

Laura

p.s.  Main pic is probably at least six years old 🙂

I have finally done a real T2B!!!!

Started out in Friday Crossfit doing a 50 cal assault bike which DID NOT steal my soul this time…

and ended with some T2elbows and I realized I could just go to bar…. Last year just before my shoulder injury I did T2B but with a jump and swing in front of it. This is what wore out my shoulders a ton before I ultimately tore one.

Pretty dang happy I can do 2 in a row and I also did 6×5 reps dead hang pullups.  Getting Stronger!

L

I lasted for months counting every gram of fat, protein and carb entering my body and being within +/- gram target a day.  Don’t understand now that I’m at the lowest weight ever why I’m struggling with the same to break into this ab six pack and just lean out a little more.  Every time I get to my lowest weight, I totally sabotage myself.  This week, on my workout day off, during a snowstorm, I stopped into the grocery store and walked out with a bag of Lays Salt/Vineger and some Lindt truffles (^&*&&^!!) and ate them on the hour drive home.  I’m standing at the register thinking this could be a great day or a bad day and I should put them back as I do not have self control with this type of crap in the house (or car as it may be). My tongue is still burning from the salt and vineger.

I know that no matter what shape you are in, the quality of food makes you feel better and perform better.

I know that I’ll feel bad later.

Do I not care about getting this six pack?

My boss told me I’m half the woman he hired yesterday (my husband told me I should have responded with I’m twice the woman you hired!).  I did my workout run last night – an hour intervals ~5.2 miles in the dark on semi-icy roads.

#Fighttheselfsabotage!!!

Laur

Hair evolution!  Embarrassing but here is a timeline of my hair starting with college to now (and I have selectively NOT included a few of the worst!):

Journey from senior year in college in 1989 (remember the perm?) thru ~1997:  And I had never worn lipstick/makeup until around 1997 when I got into ballroom dancing

then from 2001 to 2010…

And finally this most recent decade from 2013 to 2018… had to include the pic of teaching the kid how to shave 🙂

You can see how I always had kind of short hair since college and until this last year, always had bangs.  Not much you could do with it if you were working out, it just got wet.  Now I have to keep it out of my face while doing things like burpees or running in the wind.

Last summer I was at my brothers house and my 16 yr old niece showed me how to use the latest curling irons and I got one – as it grew out it was very frizzy and I just wanted it straighter.  Every time I was in London, it was a mess. She showed me the kind that you wrap your hair around and I gave myself a few scarring burns doing it – quit — complained to her and she enlightened me explaining that I need to use the glove that came with it!  So I’m good with that now and can curl or straighten my hair.

I just realized yesterday what those elastic larger bands are for (see blog main pic) …to keep the smaller pieces of hair out of your face.  I was in crossfit Friday night using two bobby pins to keep my hair out of my face and little and big hunks kept falling into my face while doing burpees.  I also just started to be able to put most of my hair up in a high, very small ponytail in back.

Now that I use some minimal makeup (can’t be bothered with it) and am coming up to speed at the age of 52 on hair, I am almost like a real girl!

I still haven’t figured out bra sizing….

Better late than never!

Laura

I slid down my driveway thinking about being back in the hospital if I rip my shoulder up during a fall… After about two miles, a salt truck pulled into my neighborhood.  I raised my arms in victory and immediately ran behind it!  Conditions improved dramatically for the rest of the run.  Pic above are the ice chunks in my hair at the end.

I know I have a Masters Degree in Engineering from MIT but finally figured out why the headlamps tilt down (I always thought they were just kind of defective)!  I can get a good view of the street in front with them tilted down.  Love the headlamp and have no need for a hand torch anymore…

Around 5 miles I realized my legs and feet were going numb.  I ran back and forth on one side of the side of my neighborhood hoping to have my husband drive by and admire my toughness 🙂  He did not.

Bring it on!

Laura

I went to Fit Werx in Peabody, MA – my old stomping grounds!  Met Dean Phillips (who has the Men’s 40-44 3000m Pursuit Best Performance World Record), Marty Miserandino (multi-time Ironman), and my personal fitter Mike Meuse! The guys were all awesome and informative and just great folks to add to my personal support crew 🙂

Many things were measured:  inseam, feet length/width, arm length, and angles of all my appendages measured while taking a movie of me pedaling on my bike.  After reviewing my “as is,”  Mike made adjustments to my seat height and handlebar position (moved it further away from me). I also got my FIRST PAIR of clip-on shoes and pedals and triathlon shorts.  It is like I am ALMOST a real bicyclist!!

When I got home, I rode my Kickr Core Smart trainer but with so many new factors (pedals and position) it was hard to really know the full result.  I have immediately seen about 1kw/kg improvement in power – wowza!

And Goggins came up….he is everywhere and still gets me all worked up.

Done with scuba class, back at it with a better back, honest reporting and en route to middle age badassery,

Laura

My worst week to-date.

Felt beat up – hurt knee from Sunday (because I just had to try the sprint in Zwift and hurt it cycling so hard), hurt quad from the week before (during interval sprints) and lower back pain making me hate to wake up and put my socks on in the morning.

Fantasized about food – eating questo dip and chips (my favorite), broke down and stress ate chocolate at work, was starving all the time (it was the VORTEX and freezing…) and totally sick of all my planned food I’ve been eating for over a year now.

Scuba class M and W had me leaving work early and not getting home until 10pm and having to study in advance a few hours a class.  I did pass though in advance of my diving vacation in Bonaire end of Feb.

Work is work – an unending stream of craziness day to day and I’m three people down so we are all just trying to cover and spend some time screening/interviewing folks.

I needed a break or something to shake it up a little bit.

For weeks before, I was singing at the top of my lungs on the bicycle all alone in the basement, happily doing 2-3 hr workouts at night going late when I needed to, and happy all day at work.  Last week I was so tired I could barely get out of bed.  I missed two workouts (a run and a bike and my weight workouts) during the week but went back to getting in the crossfit workouts at the gym (it wasn’t all bad!).  I had the queso and chips and enchilades verdes Friday night and Saturday (which might be the reason along with all the water I’m trying to drink, to my 3 lb weight gain over the weekend).

Based on my AAR last week, here’s what went well and what I wanted to different and how it went:

Went well:

• Super happy to get back to crossfit classes (my car was in the shop week before so a few days got screwed up when it spent more time then planned there)
• Am doing 5 pullups in a row – best in 15+ years
• Cleaned 75#
• Started drinking more water
• Spent a bunch of time on yoga and extra stretching Sunday – felt pretty good after the 6.7 mile run and 20 mile bike
• Finished scuba class

What I planned to do differently and how it went

• I have to get 7 hours sleep – I am not rested when I wake up.  In bed by 9:30 – no playing on phone if I wake up except to put on music.  BETTER
• Move aerobic workouts during the week to the morning – instead of wasting time watching stupid videos, do the workout and get it out of the way.  Wake up at 5am to do this. – NOT DONE YET BUT WILL follow plan with 3 long workouts in evening and see how it goes this week
• Add 5 min meditation in am and consistent daily 10 min stretching – STRETCHING YES, DAILY MEDITATION NOT YET
• If back doesn’t improve, need to make appt with Dr. Caddoo – IN PROCESS
• Create Good ab routine – added planks to mobility workout
• Drink 2 glasses of water when I wake up – adding more in at night

Don’t count me out yet!  Just found a few new friends to talk to about things and remembering the very late evening 2 weeks ago I ran my best 5k all alone in the cold night when I did not want to go, which made me prouder of anything else I’d done to date 🙂

Gotta get back to clean eating (limoncello is giving me hot flashes at night), and honest reporting,

Laura

Rode the assault bike for a 20 min buy-in to a crossfit workout this week so started out pretty hard and after 10 calories, I could feel the life drain out of me.  Love it as I suck at it.  Just have to get through it to find a foothold to do more.  Just like the hills…especially the one in my neighborhood when at night I think the lights I see in the distance are the end and they turn out to be just halfway to the top!  I try to say positive things to myself like “this isn’t so bad” or “I got this.”

I am up to 80 min runs with a few sprints mixed in while in Z2 (ie. slow mode) which I absolutely love now (even in the cold and with some snow – see above pic).  If it wasn’t for this !!&&*%%^ back, I could go on for a long time and will need to.  Lately I’ve been running back and forth and back and forth and thru the cul-de-sacs in my neighborhood.  As long as Kenny leaves the light on in our living room so I THINK he is awake, I know I am not alone out there.  I don’t like music so much when I run – seem to be busy enough watching my heart rate or working in intervals and thinking.

Had a fail yesterday with the Ghirardelli chocolates (caramel filled, raspberry filled squares).  Can’t eat just one.  Ate all the ones in the lawyers’ office at work so bought them to refill it.  Will be a meager offering…. It’s been a week of needing to not eat the same thing every day – have to shake things up once in a while but find a few healthier options!!

Week 6 almost over – heading down to do 80″ on the bike and then will be rooting for the Patriots in the Superbowl!

Chocolate eating, scuba class passing, and honest reporting,

Laura

p.s.  And as I missed the most points in my scuba class despite studying all the quizlet cards, maybe I’m just the hardest working and not that smart after all 🙂